Little Khaled was born as Internet-driven activism in another part of the world, Russia, is bringing a new generation of young people - many of whom had never participated in a protest before - into the streets to oppose election results that they believe to have been rigged in the ruling party's favor. One blogger told TIME magazine that he risked reprisals by United Russia supporters to post flyers around Moscow on the eve of the election, calling on people to vote against them. One flyer said:

"One day, your child will ask you, Papa, what were you doing when the crooks and thieves were robbing our country blind?"

People like Alaa, Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi who was arrested on the Jordanian border last weekend, and Ali Abdulemam, the Bahraini blogger who has been in hiding since February, are all fighting for a world in which their own children will be able to speak their minds and participate in opposition politics without going to prison. But what about the rest of us? To echo the Russian blogger's question:

What are we doing to make sure that our children will even be able to use the Internet to fight for their rights speak truth to power?

The war for freedom and control of the Internet continues to rage. To get the full rundown, check out the latest Netizen Report on Global Voices Advocacy. Since September I have been working with the Global Voices team and several volunteers to publish these twice monthly updates on global developments related to the power dynamics between citizens, companies and governments on the Internet. You can even subscribe to them by e-mail here.

Comments

I just would like to add one comment. I absolutely do not support Alaa even a little bit. This man is an open supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizballah. It is well documented on his blog. He openly supports the organizations that are in favor of a Holocaust of Jews, literally. Hassan Nasrallah: "If all Jews were to gather in Israel, this would save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."

If you Google Translate Alaa's blog, you will see numerous entries which support this anti-freedom ideology. I do not support those who wish me dead.

Alaa is no freedom fighter. People of good will should not support him. If people like Alaa had their way, they would censor the opinion of those who disagreed with them. That is how it always works in Islamic theocracies.

I earlier sent letters to the Egyptian Embassy to get Alaa out of jail when he was first imprisoned in 2006. Then I was hit by his open antisemitism and terror support. No longer.